Addictions
by LucidInsomniac
Summary: Gamzee Makara, your everyday rough-around-the-edge druggie, is roommate with Karkat Vantas, your everyday asshole. However, as one thing leads to another, they end up merging their lives together due to a couple of bad addictions, but also a few good ones. Rated M for sexual content and drug use.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I'm a Bother

The sun was slowly striding to bed when twenty year old Karkat stepped through the threshold of his apartment, pulling the strap of his bag over his head and setting his keys down on the counter. He rubbed the sleep that nagged at him from his eyes which were encased with heavy shadows. He let out a tight yawn and stretched his aching muscles, before calling, "Gamzee!" His usually strong and pitch deficient voice was succumbed to a raspy sore throat from the yelling he'd done earlier at one of his co-workers and pretty much all of his life.

A lengthy, slender, boy that looked about two years ahead of Karkat slinked into the main room where he stood. His appearance spoke on its own that he had just woken from a nap; his firm muscular build leaned against the wall as he stretched his arm above and behind his head. He ran a hand through his unruly charcoal hair and smiled lazily at him. "Karkat?" His southern voice was low and graveled as if he'd just dusted off three packs.

Karkat glared at his roommate. He'd pictured an irritated symbol above his forehead; one that mocked the same of the one's he always read in manga. His roommate held his smile, patiently waiting on him to speak.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" the brunette asked with a hint of matter-of-fact in his tone. Gamzee's smile shrunk a few molars as he answered, "Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?"

"Because!" Karkat's hands flew up in fury. "I got a fucking phone call today saying the cops were called on your behalf!"  
"What can I say, Karbro?" Gamzee's eyes narrowed some in an antagonizing way as he said further, "I'm a celebrity."

Karkat's brow twitched and his anger snapped. "Gamzee, I can't keep saving your ass, finding you a fucking job, every time you decide to go off the handle on someone! What is your fucking problem?!"

The eldest turned and walked back to his room, his smile dropping off his face. Karkat's anger simply pushed up another notch. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?! I asked you a question, Gamzee!"

He returned to the main room, pulling a black jacket on. He pushed pass him to the front door until he felt a strong tug on his arm. He turned. Although Karkat stood there looking ready to topple over from his crave of sleep, his glare held stern and locked onto Gamzee's gaze. "Where are you going, Gamzee?"

"To my ex-girl's house," he answered. He chanced another antagonizing smirk and chuckled, "Unless you wanted me to up and motherfuckin' fill buckets with _you_." He took his leave immediately after.

Karkat simply watched the door close, his mouth agape; his face flushed bright red and his crimson eyes wide.

Gamzee Makara was a chill type of human being. His strengths consisted of being the guy everyone came to for advice and support. Although most of the time he carried himself as if most of his brain cells were dead, he was actually very intelligent for such a laid back and uncaring person. In addition, he was every woman's wet dream. Even with being heavily skilled and chilled with almost everything by sheer dumb luck, he was incredibly attractive despite his unruly lion's hair. He always won over what he wanted from the ladies just by narrowing his intense indigo eyes a bit and lifting the corner of his lips into his signature smirk. He had a firm muscular build that unfortunately hid under a pair of baggy sweats and his favorite Capricorn shirt. Even when it came time to dress for business or other social events, Gamzee had to see one of his good friends for fashion advice. However, he was an interesting person that was hard to understand. At least by everyone else, but Karkat.

Karkat Vantas was Gamzee's best and probably only true friend that he had. Even being a chill person, Gamzee felt really attracted to outspoken people and Karkat fit his quota perfectly. His easily agitated personality and sarcastic remarks and sneers were just the types of motions that drew Gamzee into him. He could remember clear as day the pasty white boy coming into class, his head down and his books concealed in both of his arms. Being the antagonist he was back in high school, Gamzee came up to him after class and slapped his books out of his hands. As always they usually quivered under him and sank to their knees to pick up their books and continued on with life as normal prey, but with this short and almost innocent looking teen he'd proved that he was not something to be bothered with.  
"Pick my fucking books up, fag!" he called at the back of his head. Gamzee had simply turned to the snide outburst, a teasing smirk on his painted face. "Who in the motherfuckin-"  
"I'm talking to you, asshole." He pointed at him, throwing a hand on his hip. "Yes you with the fucking overrated clown make-up."

His eyes widened and his smirk fell and right then and there by the look carried in the younger's round crimson eyes he saw a spark towards friendship

It was four years since then and they were attached to the hip. At first glance, one could say that their relationship looked more like Karkat's irritability towards Gamzee's friendly motions, but it was apparent after a while of observation that no one could break their bond. However, no one tried. Karkat was not a very friendly person by nature and nobody could really stand his excessive ranting for more than a couple of seconds and Gamzee, being good-looking as he was, was strange. Wearing clown face paint and baggy clothes all of the time made people feel uncomfortable around him unless they were the people that grew up with him.

For instance, Vriska Serket was one of the very few that grew up with him. She was about a few years younger than Karkat, but she'd met Gamzee when he was in his second year of homeschool at a military gathering. She was only in sixth grade when she'd confessed her love to him and became hers. However, as he was pushed into a public school his junior year, they were found out and Vriska's parents ended the relationship by taking drastic measures and moving. Although heartbroken, Gamzee was able to move on until his first year of college.

That was why he was there in the ghetto streets of Wood Creek presently.

Gamzee hopped up the few steps to her patio, knocking softly. She came within no time, red hair pulled back into a pony tail. Vriska was now in her final year of high school and she was emancipated when she was sixteen and being seventeen presently she'd been on her own for a good year and a half. She opened the door for him, smiling, and he stepped inside.

"Gamzee? What a surprise you're here." she said disappearing to the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink?"  
"Nah, motherfucker, I just came to lay down a motherfuckin' feelin's jam is all." He clasped his hands together and stuck them between his knees as he took a seat on her couch. She sat across from him and held his stare.

He chuckled, breaking her intense eye contact with him. "Well," he said, wiping sweaty palms on his knees, "my roommate and I are at it again."  
"When are you guys never at it?" Vriska asked almost seriously.  
Gamzee chuckled and nodded. "You're right, you're right, but still. This time it kind of hurt, babe. He brought up my motherfuckin rendezvous with the man earlier today; told me he didn't want to keep savin' my ass."  
She made a sympathetic whine and got up to sit next to him. She hooked her arm around his and laid her head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry about that. It's such a fucking headache, that brat."

He threw his arm around her waist, lying his head on top of hers sighing, "He ain't no brat because I understand where the motherfucker's comin' from." He tilted his head back to stare at her cracked ceiling, smiling some. "I just wish I could stop bein' such a motherfuckin bother, you know?"

Vriska lifted her head, frowning. "Gamzee, I honestly don't see your point in this. If he's really your friend, he'd be there all the time and never look at you twice about your actions."  
"That's it, though. I have no motherfuckin sentimental reasoning behind the dumbass shit I be doin'; I just do it. I guess it just worries him. I would be, too, if I were someone like him." He chuckled some and sighed once more.

Vriska stood and left the room for a moment, returning with a bag in her hand. She shook it, grinning. "Enough of all that sad talk," she giggled. "Let's have a little fun."

Gamzee's eyes widen, "How'd you manage to up and motherfuckin' snag a bag?"

She walked over seating herself on the ground beside her table. She glanced at Gamzee and whispered, "Miracles, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
Damn Door

Glancing at a clock, it would say six a.m. Therefore, the morning was early and the sun was beginning to wake for its stroll. However, the sleeping brunette, otherwise known as Karkat, pulled the covers close to his chin and turned from the window's awful ray of light. Dreams almost claimed him once more, but a loud knock interrupted his path to sleep. Irritation blew on his nerves as he reluctantly opened his eyes and sat up. He cursed under his breath after seeing the time and was tempted to fall back into his pillow that called to him, but yet the knocking persisted. He wiped his face of sleep and pulled the blankets off of him, hesitating before finally leaving his bed.

As he entered the main room of the apartment, the knocking stopped and he lifted a confused brow. He shrugged, his sleep nagging at him once more. He turned to go back to his room, to crawl back into bed and make up for the lost sleep, but as he took the first step towards his destination, the door broke open with a loud _bang_! A few wood chips and nails flew every which way as the door was forced open and Karkat whirled around, eyes wide.

"What…the fuck?!" he said astonished.  
A tired-looking Gamzee stumbled through the door. He grabbed onto the door frame to balance himself as his blood shot eyes lifted and locked onto Karkat's bewildered ones. Karkat looked him over noting how pale his roommate looked. His usually thin, moist lips were dry and cracked and his clown makeup was smudged especially around his lips, revealing his tanned skin. Karkat gagged a bit at the smell that wavered in, as well, as Gamzee took a wobbly step forward into the apartment.  
"Best friend." Gamzee's voice was raspier than normal and cracked on some syllables as he further spoke, "Why…why didn't you open the door?"  
Karkat, although frightened, stood tall mustering whatever confidence hadn't flown out the window by that point. Looking Gamzee square off in his unfocused eyes.  
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You broke our door!" He pointed to the poor door that read 413 and hung off the frame with support of one strong hinge.  
Gamzee showed a pained look as if Karkat's voice pitch was too much for his ears to handle. "Dammit, Karbro, it's too early for all that motherfuckin' screamin' and yellin'."  
"Oh sorry, should I put on some coffee for you so you can wake the fuck up and smell it?!" Karkat sneered, "Look at the fucking door, dammit! It's practically off its hinges!"  
Gamzee turned, stumbling back a few steps, then turned back to Karkat and sighed saying innocently, "Sorry, Karbro, I thought we needed a new oven." Karkat watched him, confused as he tried hard to register what it was Gamzee just said and how it was relevant to anything they were talking about. The raven haired Capricorn sat down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, his head bobbing as if it'd fall off any minute. Karkat stopped trying to make sense of his previous statement and walked over to him, trying to get a closer look at his face. However, shrieked back as the awful stench from before hit his nostrils like missiles.  
"Gamzee!" He exclaimed, covering his nose and gagging. The older one simply lolled his head in Karkat's direction. "Are you fucking high?! What the hell's that awful smell?!"  
Gamzee smiled in response and Karkat gripped him by the shoulders, ignoring his stench. "Answer me, dammit! What is wrong with you?!"

Gamzee's eyes widened and Karkat noticed the older's pupils dilate as he grabbed his wrists. Gamzee's grip tightened painfully around his bones to the point that faint cracking could be heard. His voice turned intimidating and daunting as he whispered, "Don't you motherfuckin' touch me. Ever."

Karkat winced in pain, tugging his hands back as a beg for Gamzee to release him. They stared at each other in a dead, almost eerie, silence. In spite of Gamzee's sudden outburst, though, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his grip loosened enough for Karkat to slip out and take a few steps back, almost tripping over himself. The older slipped onto his side, sleep immediately claiming him. Karkat simply stared at him for a few minutes in complete shock at what had just happened. He rubbed his wrists frantically and as he tried to wipe his face that had surprisingly gone a bit numb in the whole ordeal, he found that his eyes were watery. He nodded in disbelief and looked around as if his surroundings were not familiar until eventually reality snapped back to him and he pulled out of his traumatic trance.

Karkat pulled the door to lean tilted against its frame somewhat and turned, popping his collar and putting his head down. He ran down the stairs of the apartment's complex and didn't look back. He didn't want to visualize again how he left the clown in his deranged state; only throwing a blanket on him and leaving him a small note because he figured that was all he was ever going to be able to do if he knew his best friend as well as he always did.

It was a little bit after twelve when Gamzee sat up, his head immediately throbbing with so much pain that the room spun him back into his pillow. He didn't bother to try sitting up a second time so instead wiped his face of sleep, trying hard to focus on what was in front of him as his vision twisted out of control. He made out the coffee table in front of him and the T.V sitting on the stand behind it, but his vision was still turning and hazy so he gave up, closing his eyes in defeat. He felt so jumbled and hot...very, very hot for some odd reason. He pulled his hand to feel his forehead and his palm was drenched in sweat. He noticed that his clothes felt stuck on him and wet. He wondered why he was so drenched in sweat. He thought at first it was because of the blanket, Karkat's blanket he noted, that'd been placed on top of him. However, that didn't explain the intense migraine he had going, the dizzy spells, or fuzzy vision that he was experiencing. It felt like he had bricks weighing his head down on the pillow and suddenly his eyes flashed opened. They rolled every which way as his eyelids opened and closed like a roller coaster. He was panting wildly, too, as if he'd just waken from a nightmare. It felt like a load of cement was dropped on him as he began to pull memories from last night and earlier that day.

He gathered all of his will and strength to bring his head up, but was knocked in-between his knees by the pain that shot up his spin and into the back of his head. He grunted and whimpered, hoping that if he was still long enough it would eventually go away or at least light up enough for him to function correctly. Fortunately, the pain did fade away enough for him to lift his up and look around. Though, it still throbbed like a heart beat, his vision was a lot better than before and he gathered in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the front door almost off its hinges and the nails and wood chips on the floor. He let his head hang between his knees as the memories coursed through him and he cursed himself under his breath.

"I'm such a motherfuckin' idiot."

He looked up at the coffee table, a piece of paper folded in half catching his attention. He reached for it and opened it. It read:

_GAMZEE._

_ WHAT. THE. FUCK? IF I WERE STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW AS YOU WOKE UP TO READ THIS PIECE OF SHIT LETTER, I WOULD DROP KICK THAT BULBOUS FUCKING AIR HEAD OF YOURS TO THE DAMN MOON. _

_ BUT..._

_ THAT CAN WAIT. I'M OUT WITH SOLLUX SO TRY NOT FUCK UP THE PLACE AS BAD AS YOU ALREADY HAVE, GOT THAT ASS-HAT? I WON'T BE HOME TILL AFTER DARK SO EAT TAKEOUT. AND BY THE WAY, THE DOOR. I'M NOT REALLY UPSET OVER IT SO DON'T GET YOUR EMOTIONS IN A WHIRL, OKAY? WHO EVEN GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE DOORS? NOT ME, THAT'S WHO. I MEAN IT'S NOT LIKE WE PAID A DAMN FORTUNE FOR IT ANYWAYS, BUT YOU KNOW? WHO HAS ANY FUCKS TO GIVE? NOT ME. SO FUCK THE DOOR. DAMN DOOR._

The note ended there and Gamzee folded the paper back, smiling sadly as he laid his head on top of his knees. His heart was a bit broken from his threat against Karkat earlier, but he was greatful that his best friend cared, that he hadn't given up on him like so many people already had.


End file.
